JOB LOSSES: Four Crown Lands staff will lose their jobs as part of a restructure. Photo: STEVE GOSCH 0601sgland1
FOUR Orange-based Crown Lands staff learnt they would lost their jobs via a statewide webcast on Thursday afternoon.
Staffing numbers at the local branch of Crown Lands, a division of the Department of Primary Industries, will drop from 11.5 to seven, contributing to a total of 20 redundancies across the state.
Crown Lands general manager Graham Harding said job losses in Orange were part of a plan to boost staffing levels by 20 people at its Dubbo branch.
He said redundant local workers would be offered an opportunity to relocate to Dubbo.
“It’s going to become a major business centre for the state,” Mr Harding said.
He said Orange job losses came from the business administration and transactional services divisions of Crown Lands.
Mr Harding admitted there would be some sadness at news of the restructure, however, the cuts were a necessity as the department tried to live within the budget the government supplied.
He said the job cuts were in line with management’s plan to increase the functions undertaken at its Dubbo and Newcastle operations.
The consolidation also allowed Crown Lands to take advantage of “efficiencies of scale” while catering for clients who wanted immediate access to services via the internet.
Mr Harding said the job losses were not effective immediately, with the restructure expected to take six to nine months to complete.
“I’ll be travelling around the state and conducting workshops with the staff,” he said.
Mr Harding said his decision to retire in September was not connected to the restructure.
tracey.prisk@ruralpress.com